swimming away...

2006.

Thank you!

For the sms-es, the testimonials and messages over Friendster, for the greetings over MSN and in my blog, for the e-mails, for the e-cards, for the poem, for the book, for the singing, for the shirt, for the red packet, for the food, for the cake, for the thought, for the friendship, for the handshake, for the smiles, for the time, for this date, for this life, for my life, THANK YOU all :)

a light supper

This you see here, is food prepared at 12 midnight for supper. The next meal was prepared 6 hours later in the same kitchen, at 6am on Sunday morning. Pastor Michael from Brisbane's Metro Church couldn't be much wrong when he exclaimed that we Malaysians (I think it was more true to say the EFC GC folks, their host) are crazy when it comes to food! Oh why am I still hungry? ^^

a little journey...

Some photoshop effects on a picture by the one who loves taking pictures of the sky. A little journey...^^

Do not worry...

‘I used to worry a lot. When I was in school, I used to worry about my grades; whether I would pass, make the grade or not. Then I started to worry if I could earn enough money, enter the Uni, secure a job…’ so on and so forth.

I attended the second day of the Planet Shakers Night Rally last night. And a young chap holding a bible came on stage and had this to share.

Another lad with the word ‘worry’ soon followed him wherever he went on stage. It was amusing yet irritating to have Mr. Worry following his moves on stage, but it was effective.

Then one day he stumbles upon this verse in the Bible, Matthew 6:35;

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

It was a revelation. Matthew 6:33,34;

‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

Jesus’ command was to seek first His kingdom and all these things will be given to us as well.

Quoting from Psalm 23:1;

‘The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.’

And verse 6;

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

From then onwards, he learnt to trust in God and to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Soon two other boys with the words ‘goodness’ and the other ‘mercy,’ became his shadow on stage, trailing his paths as he shared that one day God prompted him to give ‘all the money that he had (in his pocket I assume) into the offering bag.’

The reminder not to worry was apt and appropriate, and the sharing was refreshing. Then came the offering bag with the challenge to give to God and not to worry. Give! Give! Give!

I felt a lump in my throat. Did it tally with the message? I leave it to you.

Ricky Soo

“Hi! I’m Ricky,” was his intro. My knapsack still fastened, I looked around the apartment. There were two rooms, one with an attached bathroom and another, without. He was the first of the 4 apartment mates to greet me. The rest are still no where to be seen, but I’ve met 2 others before, Eric and Chun Keat from I-bridge 2005. Chun Keat was then also my pavilion mate. It would be nice meeting them again.

The room without the attached bathroom overlooked other apartments. The master room had its windows overlooking the hills, green untouched-by-man hills. Ricky had claimed his space in the smaller room with two beds.

Standing tall, tanned with a tuff of Trojan-like hair, he invited me to be his roommate. Oh well, ok. It was a camp after all, and one of its promises was a chance to meet new people. And I really mean, new people. We shook hands and I unpacked my belongings and got into a more comfortable outfit.

My first impression was that he was older, maybe much older than I was. He had traces of shyness in his lax, tenor-like voice and he was partly Indonesian. Being the reserved me, I spoke just enough to get to know enough about my new roommate for the beginning of 3 more days to come.

Registration of all campers was almost complete save for a few others who would be coming only the next day when dinner was laid. Called to the Marketplace was to dominate our subject of (formal) discussion and much of our thoughts these few camp days at Bukit Tinggi. It was to be a camp where Sundays and Mondays were to be bridged legato-like.

Unlike other camps, getting to know people was not the foremost of my intentions. I wanted a respite from the word ‘routine.’ I wanted to be refreshed in my purpose in life and vocation. But more than that, I just wanted to bask wholly in God’s presence, to be renewed and refocused. Time with God alone. But the camp catered for other needs.

If testimonies enrich the fellowship, God was generous in His plans revealed in Ricky’s life. A wealth of testimonies and a humble life to display the transformation of His love, I soon began to think of Ricky as ‘treasures in jars of clay.’ He had among the most powerful testimony that I’ve ever heard (from a roommate…haha!). The blind can see, the lame can walk, the deft can hear and the mute can speak. Physically, Ricky was normal. Spiritually, a miracle-transformed life.

This is a link to Ricky’s blog, where he writes much about how God has changed him and about his new hope and life in Christ. Inspirational in its writings, in its inspirations - divine.

It has been a blessing knowing you!

Dear Friend

I hear the keys sing and I think of you
Times when I was not listening,
When notes kept falling, the music rising,
My presence fading, while others shinning,
You kept the music,
Playing.

On the ivory keys
Still and cold

What is music without the soul?
Your hand, my fingers,
Your fingers, my pen,
Your pen, my life,
Your life, my music,
Your music,
Playing.

The sound of being in your presence
The sound of your presence
The sound
The

Voices
Voices heard
Voices heard loudly
Around me
Is that music?
Playing…

When you are here
Love is here

Open the covers once again
The dusty old chair
On which I’ve sat through many seasons
With you
Only
Playing

Dear friend,
My Friend.

~huichuan~

December

It’s December! December! And I don’t usually look forward to December. Why? For various reasons…good reasons…December scares me. I’m not ready, but already it’s here, into it’s 7^th day…

a candid shot

Portrait shots are still something that I’m trying to improve on, as you can see…Haha!

Here's he, my brother, best buddy and friend most loyal and true. ^^

Saturday, 2nd December 2006

What’s a typical Saturday like? Well, for those like me who finds the roller shutters of their offices down, locked and no one inside to answer a call, it could be anything. It’s the weekend after all…haha!

PC fair was quite the main agenda of the day. The initial plan was to be at the Kelana Jaya LRT station by 9.15am, and our main targets were the Kingston pen drive as well as their SD cards, both 1GB which were highly affordable. Then we were to be back after lunch at around 2pm to …sit and watch the way the day would unfold itself. Lol!

Anyway, such was the plan. Youtube had video clips of Clay Aiken and Il Divo’s collaboration with Celine Dion to entertain the morning. Called Jon, but no reply. Cousins Justin and May Li had to wake up to answer my call. It was already 9am. Well, so much for the planning.

Dutt and I were at the Kelana Jaya LRT station by 9.30am, after picking May Li up. We met Syn Yan there and had breakfast together.

KLCC. I remembered Vanessa Mae once said in an interview that she plays Bach much, as according to her teacher, Bach’s music is like brushing teeth in the morning; it cleanses. So it was, walking into the Convention Centre of KLCC. Glass-clad exposed steel structures, the morning light as well as the designed landscape brought an urban cleansing feel.

Included in our short shopping list were items from others too, and most of the time was spent comparing and shopping for those items. The crowds grew in number and in pace and by the time we dislodged ourselves from their company, it was already 4 something in the evening. By then, our wallets were just left with a few blue notes…not from overspending as we knew exactly what we were after, but from various orders…Thanks to May Li who still had RM12 with her, and coupled with some charity, we shared buns among ourselves to keep up alive...well we were really hungry by then…It was an excellent suggestion by Dutt too, to buy return tickets in KJ. Not just the cash, but the queue at KLCC was horrendously... un-short!

With a 1GB SD card and extra rechargeable batteries for the camera…well Pinky, what do you think we should do? Haha!

The Wongs, with a sign known only to them. Haha! Great siblings!^^

Old habits...

There’s something about old habits they say, which die hard. Seen in this picture are two such habitual people, caught in the act of teeth-brushing as they gather at the tap beside the perimeter drain in an OA village in the district of Melaka after lunch. Then again, one might speculate the presence of a dentist somewhere close too…

trees and the moon

This is why I love traffic jams...well, sometimes...don't imagine me walking the streets at night just to take pictures. Haha!